Cat Care on a Budget

[Hreow]

Originally Posted by Gladys

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

Yes, luckily enough, I do have some money put aside. I do like to be careful with it, and like all of you, if my cat got ill, I'd have no hesitation in taking her to a vet.

However, as mentioned, one off payments for vet fees are very costly. I would probably be safer using pet insurance.

I've been looking at some pet insurance companies, and so far the lowest monthly rate is £11.78 (I think it is quite a high price because I live in a city area). However, I don't intend to pay more than is necessary. Next thing I'll do is have a look at More Than (thanks Kim).

Do have a quick search on the net for their reputation before you decide, though. You don't want to be insured with an insurance company that is notorious for being bad and slow about paying you back. I chose the company that I'm with because I have friends with elderly cats with long term illnesses and they have never had a problem with their claims. They were stars with the claim for Rover's much, much too early death. Worth paying a bit more for that peace of mind, I find.

[Gladys]

Thanks rescuecatsrule,

I'll take a look at your link now.

[Gladys]

I never thought of that Hreow. Good idea.

Maybe I'll look into the pet insurance companies that offer the lowest quotes. I won't just take the cheapest offer (seems like you're saying I might be in for an expensive wait from them otherwise).

[Velvet]

Homebase was something like £4 a month

I pay £9 each for our 3 for lifetime cover from Petplan. I get discount for more than One cat

The dogs are with Sainsburys

[Hreow]

Originally Posted by Gladys

I never thought of that Hreow. Good idea.

Maybe I'll look into the pet insurance companies that offer the lowest quotes. I won't just take the cheapest offer (seems like you're saying I might be in for an expensive wait from them otherwise).

More expensive does not necessarily mean better, just to make thing difficult. But since we have the whole internet at hand, it is worthwhile to look around on petsites to see if there is a better or a worse one within your budget once you have found a few candidates. You already have a few recommendations in this thread to start with.

[paulinef2]

Both my cats are with petplan, now before Tiger became ill I probably would have shopped around for Lester's insurance. The reason I went with PP was my vet has taken care of all the claims and PP just pay the vet directly. With all other insurance companies I'd have had to pay up and claim it back. Worth having a look to see how your chosen vet deals with this too. I only say this because Tiger's emergency after hours appointment and check ups over the first week or so amounted to a few hundred pounds which the vets did all the claim forms for and got the money directly from the insurers. It has been a lot less hassle free than I had thought it would be.

[Kim]

Gladys, please make sure you take out a covered for life policy if you can. If your cat develops an ongoing problem such as diabetes, then some insurance companies will only pay out for the life of the policy i.e. 12 months. Try and avoid a company called E & L if you can, their reputation is terrible!

[Hreow]

Adding to that that E & L are underwriters so you may have to dig a bit to see if the company your're thinking of is connected to them.

[Gladys]

Thanks Hreow, I'll avoid that company.

[Gladys]

Kim.

I think the point you made about cover is really important. I started out looking at insurance that covered everything a cat and it's owner might need. I find though, that Green Insurance, the cheapest for me, had really basic coverage.
That's something I need to look at too.